Moose euthanized at Deer Valley

A sick, weak yearling moose in the American Flag area of Deer Valley was euthanized by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Andy Barros)

A yearling moose was euthanized Tuesday in the American Flag area of Deer Valley.

Andrea Barros said her husband Andy found the moose in their driveway when he walked outside to retrieve the newspaper around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. The moose was laying against their garage door.

They thought the moose would get up and leave and they took a few photos, before realizing that the animal "just didn’t look right," Andrea said. "I noticed that the magpies were flying all around and I thought that was a terrible sign."

The Barros called Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), who quickly responded.

"It was lethargic and I could tell it had a problem with its eyes," said DWR Wildlife Technician Heather Reich. "It didn’t have as good weight on it as we would probably want."

Reich contacted the biologist in the area and the two decided to euthanize it.

DWR Disease Biologist Leslie McFarlane said that while test results are still pending, the moose showed "no infectious sign of disease or anything like that."

The Barros and Reich spotted drops of blood on the ground where the moose had been lying – the moose was covered in ticks.

"What I expect it to be is the animal was probably vitamin deficient," Reich said. "That, on top of the fact that it had a really high tick load," where the ticks are drawing out more nutrients than the moose can keep in its body.

"It’s basically like starving to death," she explained.

"We have four to five [moose] turned in like that every year," Reich said.

Andrea Barros said she usually sees a lot of moose over the winter, but this was the first one she has seen this year.